As part of GIIS's continuous efforts to produce well-rounded and confident future leaders, GIIS has started the Alumni Connect series in which we invite accomplished alumni to share their journey and experiences with the younger students. We started off this series with Nishi Anand, IB world topper from the batch of 2011. She joined us to share her journey from GIIS to Harvard Business School. The purpose of the webinar was to share information with our current graduating students who are seeking admission about why the US is a great destination for higher studies, what universities expect from prospective students, how students can build their profile and write an essay that stands out, etc.

She started off by sharing a little about herself. Hailing originally from Jamshedpur, India, she shifted to Singapore and joined GIIS. She was the IB world topper in the batch of 2011. She did her Bachelor’s in Industrial Systems & Engineering from Georgia Tech from 2012-15. After graduating she worked with Boston Consulting Group as a consultant for 3 years. In 2020 she completed her MBA from Harvard Business School and is currently working as a Private Equity Operations Executive at KKR in New York City. 

She then spoke about school level education and why it is important to identify what subject you love and enjoy studying as the first step to deciding your college. She said instead of taking up the conventional streams like doing medicine or computer science, etc., one must really retrospect what they are curious about. Students must also focus on what else is important other than academics. For Nishi, it was the flexibility of the academic curriculum. She had never done business before and she enjoyed doing it. That made her think about more subjects that she never studied before but may enjoy it. She also looked at diversity in terms of field of education, travel experience, etc. She said one must make a list of academic criteria and other factors that affect the choice and then see which college meets that criteria. 

When speaking about extracurricular activities, she suggested picking one or two activities and go deep in those and specialise in them instead of indulging in a wider range of activities. This helps in college applications. She advised the students to not make their application essay a list of their achievements. More than telling the college what all you have achieved in the last few years, find out if there is any recurring theme of your achievements and experiences and use that to build your profile in your essay. This will help differentiate your application and tell the committee about who you are as a person and understand you better. Every student has a good academic and extracurricular record. But what really makes you stand out is how you perceive the choices you made. 

Next, she spoke about how to pick a college. She suggested students build their scorecard. They can make a list of their preferred universities and what factors are they looking for from their college. One may look at the facilities, or the environment, career paths, course structure, etc. Each person wants different things and so they must set their priorities right. Then they must see which university offers them the most. 

A gap year is something that does not go down well with families but Nishi took a gap year because she wanted to choose a university where she wants to go rather than where she has to go. She advocated for a gap year as one can build on their knowledge and skills during this time by engaging in activities for a better application. Students can also identify their interests, strengths and have better experiences to make a more informed decision. Students can do internships, freelance, volunteer, help social entrepreneurs, etc. Think in terms of what skills you can learn what will be relevant for your study. 

From college, you start thinking about your early career phase. Having confidence and proper mentorship is very important in the early stages of your career. One must know their strengths and weaknesses and also find people that can be inspiring and take that inspiration and apply it in their life. 

Nishi gave really helpful advice and suggestions for preparing an essay that will help secure admission in college and how to select the right college and course for you.

Listen to the podcast here.

Watch the webinar here.